[ It's probably an unfair question, putting Sam on the spot, but she gives him a small and apologetic smile, letting him continue without interruption. The longer he goes on, the more she relates. Not necessarily about wanting to change the world; she only wanted to change a small part of it, and she most certainly didn't. And then she lost all of the people she'd found and loved, hollowing her out for such a long time. She doesn't want to feel that way again. It's why she forced herself out of bed in the early days of arriving in Solvunn. ]

I could hug you. [ Claire says that first, to establish that everything he's said has hit home. But now she has to think about his words and decide how much to share. Not because it's secret, and not because she fears she'll be judged, but because it's convoluted. Finally, she lets out a soft breath and fills the comfortable quiet between them. ]

Your mother sounds like a wise woman, and I have a very good feeling that she'd be quite proud of you if she could see you here.

[ Claire would be. She is. ]

You aren't wrong, either, about the state of the world. I've lived through two world wars and served in one. Then there was Korea and Vietnam. [ It gets exhausting, the fact that there has always been and likely will always be, another war brewing at any given moment. ] I suppose I couldn't get enough and even traveled back in time two-hundred years to try and change the results of the final battle during war in Scotland. And now I'm here, in the middle of another skirmish that seems tense, even with Jocelyn out of the picture.

[ After finishing her lemonade to about halfway, she wipes her hands together, the condensation cool on her palms. ]

I arrived here after being separated from my husband for twenty years. We'd only just reunited, and so it's been a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. I do seem to have found my people here, though.

[ She glances up at Sam, giving him a warm smile. ]